The Man In The Cape Review – Robots Incarnate

You are a stick figure wearing a blue cape, wielding a deadly weapon, being chased by murderous nanobots created by a madman who really doesn’t like you… That pretty much sums up The Man in the Cape. Oh, and you have to battle your way through an underground dungeon with walls made of spikes. Easy, right?

“…twin stick run and gun shooter…” is the term that creator Anthony uses to describe his game and if you ask me, that is a pretty damn good description for this interesting, yet frustrating, little game.

Before the twin stick dance begins, you’ll get a little taste of what’s going on with the story. You are a hero who apparently likes spending time on rooftops in order to keep an eye on the city. The particular rooftop that you are on tonight is that of a business run by a man named Mr. Granderson.

“Just let the frustration soak in… you’ll get used to it.”

You haven’t been the only hero making a racket on top of his store and Mr. Granderson is pissed. He decides to do exactly what anyone with an intimate knowledge of computers would do: he creates an army of robots to kick your ass up and down his dungeon of death. Typical right?

It’s hard to miss the distinct art style that Anthony uses. The hero of this tale is a stick figure wearing a hat and, of course, his trusty blue cape. The animations for movement, shooting, etc. are pretty straightforward and not groundbreaking, but there is something to be said for the simplicity. Also note that the creator is acting as artist, programmer, and everything else you can think of.

The music for the game definitely gives you a dungeon fighting feel and goes great with the atmosphere. Heavy sounds and a juicy beat help get you into the mood of exterminating robots.

You’ll notice that the controls are pretty basic, and I’m sure we’ve all seen them before. Twin stick controls are a lot of fun, mainly because it makes me smile when I have the opportunity to take my hand off the mouse and control the world with the keyboard.

Now, you’ve settled in and the soundtrack is getting your fingers tingling, begging to cause damage to everything that moves. You move into the adjacent room and the first level throws a ton of robots at you, which amusingly cry out in pain when you take them out. Cries of “Oh my leg!” and “Ouch! That hurts.” ricochet off the spiked walls. All of this chaos get’s your blood pumping just before you are easily halted, either by accidentally running into the spiked walls, or being swarmed by hungry robots.

Just let the frustration soak in… you’ll get used to it.

TL:DR? Watch our video review.

What The Man In The Cape lacks in artistic flavor is dwarfed by the sheer amount of pain that you go through every time one of those obnoxious metal zombies ends your career as a superhero. I guarantee you won’t be thinking about the “aesthetics” while your fingers smash the keys as if they were your arch enemies.

Don’t worry about the difficulty level though; you’ll slowly get better at dodging the horde of nanobots and bullets. Eventually you will find your first save point and finally get to breathe… for now. Even though it may seem like the game is a heartless in-law bent on ruining your day, you’ll start to glow with satisfaction when you take out the epic bosses and progress through the game.

The Final Verdict

Overall, The Man in the Cape doesn’t scream “Game of the Year,” but there is much fun to be had in this little gem. There are some bugs (understandably so, considering the game is in beta) and a few design flaws, but I’m sure Anthony is hard at work making a game that you can grow to love. Oh, and it’s only $2.99 while in beta. Hard to beat that.

Final Thoughts

Overall, The Man in the Cape doesn’t scream “Game of the Year,” but there is much fun to be had in this little gem. There are some bugs (understandably so, considering the game is in beta) and a few design flaws, but I’m sure Anthony is hard at work making a game that you can grow to love. Oh, and it’s only $2.99 while in beta. Hard to beat that.